Fort Worth weekly gazette. [volume] (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1887-12-09

trace Of what the President would say, or
how he would ssy 1t. The night before
Congress met, 8 messenger was sent from
the White House TO Newspaper Row, and
the leading correspondents were invited
TO csll there. They slI vent, and Pres
ideRt GTsnt met them in the east room.
lie had big roll Of manuscript in his
! BeGd, aud there wss g humorous twinkle
n MS eye. BE handed the roll of piper
over to them, saying:
| "B)ys, you got ahesd Of NE last year,
! but l dOa't think you viii do it again.
/ /. will DC resd in Congress this morning.
/ You cen 81 81. DOM cCU, and COPY i, Il
! yOu wsnt it."
/ The n5-sEg5 was slreEGy Ia ne hands
otthe Associated Press, ard q course the
sPo15e1-s sid not wan =. T1ey
considered L good joke SIT laughed
heartily over i, ant they liked G-sr. slI
The st,er f)r hsvi-gp. it uPeu .1l1n.
G2a5 Guarded al MS surseq .aal mss
szg5S ccreiClg. srf President Auhur l-d
Dis set Ia y.,1 closed doors. lie zava
iJem 20 the p-iu.eIS TIE Sunday q ne
week 5s3or@ toEgrsss ret, and enc Cf she
printers wE2 pu. lh-m in type te. me
tcl5 hey were sent bsCk 20 tie White
House on E4.d2y sCd Saturday
bali DIN tines IN proof before
the tssI copy VS. taken. Oa tie
Sunday ClSht preceding the opening OF
Congress. the forms were locked M, the
doors were licked, and the greatest OF
exc MSS taken to keep the uea who had
been working upon them employed, so
inst newspaper correspondents could not
| get access 10 them. Most Oi4rthur's mes
sSges were sent to the printers in his OWN
handwriting, a1d he wrote, SIS a rule, s
short message.
The Presidents message is considered
very valuable, no. only TO newspapers,
but to brokers as we'll. It outlines the
policy Of the administrations, sud it may
cause rise or fsIl OF stocks. During
JohnsOn's time NewYork broker Cffered
S25, 900 for an adv.r &c copy of the Presi-
DENTS message. His Offer wos ti-cSed,
and one OF Hayes messages:wss s)li for
$500.
Grants messages were nesrlY zll auto
graph ones. He dictated well, tn, wrote
clearly and tiuently. He seldom revised
his manuscript, and his messages read IS
well as his memoirs. Surrogate RliIics
aided President Arthur in the prenarstiOn
Of his messages, and it is said that many
OF the ideas which crept into them came
from him.
Chevslier Wikoff was perhsp3 the list
correspondent VINO ever stole a Pfes!-
dents message, snd he telegrsphed ore
TO the New York Herald in 1852 greet
fuss was made about the matter, arc
! Congressional investigation followed.
Wik0f was Cired to meeting OF the
House, and asked If whom he had gotten
the document. He replied that It
was gwen to him under an 90
legation Of secrecy, and he was
obliged to decline TO answer. Wikr f
moved in the best circles of Washington
society ana WAS elise friend of Mrs
L'ncOln'S, and it was supposed ct the
! time tA.t ahe gave him the message, ard
the chsTge annoyed President Lincolp'
very much. After tiuaP. however, WikcS
told the committee thst the message wss
given him by man named Watt, whose
vile was Mrs. LiECGIn'd maid. and tiis
explanation wss nsl!v accepted.
Just row, the cOrIesuondents are on tde
qul vive as TO What President Cleveland
will say in his message ard how be will
ssY it. Whether tteV will be able to buy
the printers, or By the aid Of some such
m'nd-resder as Bishop, lts~D nis thoughts,
renaiCs TO be seen.
Franc g CARPENTER.